Britannia Radio

What a load of rubbish Barroso talks.  The procedures for ratifying  
treaties are clear and nobody has any obligation to anyone else if  
they decdide that other things are more important than  ratifying the  
wretched Lisbon Treaty which the European public doesn’t want.

The world may be falling to financial chaos, his mother may be on  
fire and little green men are landing on earth but all Barroso can  
think of is getting more power into his hands in Brussels by bullying  
reluctant countries.
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TELEGRAPH        26.3.09
Czechs 'have obligation' to pass Lisbon Treaty despite government's  
collapse
The Czech Republic has an "obligation" to ratify the European Union's  
Lisbon Treaty despite the collapse of its government, the European  
Commission president has said.

By Bruno Waterfield in Brussels

José Manuel Barroso warned Czech politicians yesterday that the EU  
Treaty "should not be used as a weapon on domestic issues".
"The Czech Republic has signed the treaty and so the Czech Republic  
has an obligation to ratify. I really hope that this domestic,  
political development is not used as a way to put in question the  
treaty," he said.

"Rejection would only serve to damage other countries in the Union.  
All 27 member states have signed up to the treaty and this agreement  
has to be respected."

Mr Barroso's words are aimed at the Czech President, Vaclav Klaus, a  
staunch opponent of the Lisbon Treaty and a key figure in Tuesday's  
no confidence vote against the government led by the prime minister,  
Mirek Topolanek.

The fall of Mr Topolanek provides a political opportunity for  
President Klaus and means that Czech ratification of the Lisbon  
Treaty is now likely to come after Ireland's second referendum.

Alexandr Vondra, the Czech Deputy Prime Minister admitted that the  
political crisis could mean a bumpy ride for the EU Treaty.

"It will be a lot more difficult now to convince people to vote in  
favour," he said. "The current developments complicate the situation.  
It is not going to be easy."

Declan Ganley, leader of Libertas, a pan-European party campaigning  
against the Lisbon Treaty, said: "Mr Barroso, an unelected  
bureaucrat, is yet again attempting to bully another Member State  
into ratifying the anti-democratic Lisbon Treaty. It is the next step  
in his campaign to pressure the Irish people to change their  
democratic will."

Any question mark over, or delay to,  Czech ratification could also  
jeopardise a second Irish referendum on the EU Treaty planned for  
October.

Officials and diplomats are keen to make sure that all EU countries  
have ratified the Lisbon Treaty as a way of pressurising the Irish to  
overturn their June 2008 No vote in a second referendum.

Michael Martin, the Irish foreign minister said: "That's a bit more  
complex than we would have anticipated."

Bernard Kouchner, the French foreign minister, also expressed fears  
over the Treaty's future.
"What has happened in Czech Republic again hurts any certainty that  
we will get the Lisbon treaty," he said.